Ball toy



Aug. 7, 1951 H. E. GELB ETAL BALL TOY Filed March 25, 1950 2Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS 2, M A a.

M 1 WM H. E. GELB ET AL Aug. 7, 1951 BALL TOY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledMarch '25, 1950 INVENTOR. MM

Patented Aug. 7, 1951 BALL TOY Hubert E. Gelb and Chauncey Young,Medina, Ohio Application March 23, 1950, Serial No. 151,464

9 Claims. (01. 46208) The purpose of our present invention is to producean interesting and amusing mechanical my in the form of a ball havingself-contained operating mechanism for causing rolling movement of theball in an automatic manner.

In carrying out our invention it is contemplated to provide a ball unitof generally spherical form having mounted in the body thereof out ofview a spring motor arranged and connected to operate a propeller orpusher member having a portion adapted to be projected slightly from theperiphery of the ball to engage with-the surface upon which the ball isdesigned to roll, for effecting intermittent propulsion movements of theball toy by automatic operation.

The self-contained mechanism in the ball unit includes certain novelcontrol features comprising primarily a release or detent rod an end ofwhich is projectable from the periphery of the ball so that in therolling movement of the latter the said detent rod may be intermittentlyactuated to release the spring motor for enabling the latter to operatethe propelling or pushing member to cause the latter to impart to theball the intermittent pushing or propelling movement of the latter bywhich it is caused to roll upon the surface on which it may be disposed,such as a floor, table, or the like.

Our invention involves certain other detail features of novelconstruction and arrangement in making up the internal operatingmechanism hereinbefore referred to and which will appear more fully asdescribed hereinafter, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the annexed drawings:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through a ball toy embodying thegeneral features of the present invention, the section being taken alongthe line I-l of Figure 4.

' Figure 2 is a detail fragmentary view showing more particularly thedetent wheel of the motor mechanism, its cooperating detent pawl, andthe connection of the pawl to the detent rod at the inner end of thelatter.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional-view taken about on the line 33 ofFigure 1, looking in the direction of the arrow, and illustrating moreclearly the relative disposition of certain of the operating parts,including primarily the pusher rod and the detent rod features.

Figure 4 is a sectional view of the toy taken about on the line 4-4 ofFigure 1.

Figure 5 is a detail fragmentary sectional view taken about on the line5-5 of Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a somewhat diagrammatic View illustrating the internalmechanism of the ball in a perspective manner to more clearly show thegeneral arrangement of the winding stem of the spring motor, the springmotor part and the pusher and detent rod devices with their connectingparts.-

In the accompanying drawings similar reference characters refer tosimilar parts throughout and the embodiment of the invention as illus-..trated is one of many embodiments that may be employed as respects thedetail form of the spring motor mechanism availed of for the purposes ofour invention.

Now, referring to the drawings annexed hereto, it is notable that ourball unit comprises the ball or spherical body I which may be made ofeither pliable material such as rubber or the like or it may be made ofrelatively rigid material of a plastic nature if desired, this not beingmaterial to the invention.

The ball I may be molded, preferably, in separate sections which may bejoined together by any suitable technique of the plastic and rubber art,after the motor unit and the parts operated thereby, and controlling theoperation thereof, have been emplaced in the said ball I in properposition for the operation of the device as a mechanical toy. With theforegoing in mind, therefore, it is contemplated that the motor unit andits associated operating and controlling parts may be made up in anassembly comprising frame sides 2 and other frame parts in the nature ofconnecting bars between the sides, after the manner of an ordinaryclock-works motor, such assembly being adapted to be positioned in astationary manner by reason of the engagement of the top plate 3 and thebottom plate 4 thereof in recesses formed in supporting arms 5 formingintegral extensions from the inner periphery of the ball and preferablymolded therewith when the sections of the latter are originally made.

' Any suitable way of supporting the assembly of the mechanical parts ofthe toy in relation to the ball I may be availed of, that illustratedbeing one of the conventional methods that may be employed in thecarrying out of the invention,

The mechanical works in the hollow portion of the ball I, the framemembers of which have been generally indicated as 2, 3 and 4, largelycomprises a spring motor including the helical spring 6, one end ofwhich is fixed to one of the frame sides 2 and the other end of which isattached to a shaft l passing through the central portion of the saidspring 6 and mounted upon the sides 2 of said frame. The spring isadapted to be wound up in the conventional manner by means of a windingstem 8 which is disposed radially of the axis of the ball I and isequipped on its outer end with a winding finger piece 9 that lies in arecess l0, formed by a depression in the spherical external surfaceportion of the ball I.

This arrangement of the finger piece or winding handle a is desired andnecessary so that this member may not project from the peripheral.

portion of the ball and interfere with its rolling movement in anymanner, but at. the; same time be quite accessible to the user of thetoy for quickly winding up the spring 6 after thetoy has been used for adefinite period of time. The winding stem 8 carries at its inner end a.gear II which although shown as a spur gear could be a bevel or otherequivalent type of gear, fixed thereto and which gear meshes with a.similar type gear !2 on the shaft 7 with which the spring 6 isconnected, the gear E2 being fixed to said shaft. The gear l2 mesheswith a pinion I4, said pinion, in turn, meshing with a gear l5 fixed toa control and operating. shaft 16 which is mounted in the sides 2 of theassembly frame previously referred to.

On the control shaft It is fixedly mounted an, actuating cam ll disposedso as to engage and operate the pushing plunger or rod 98 disposedradially of the axis of the cam, which is the shaft [6. The plunger isis mounted to slide in bearings provided by openings in the lower plate,4 of the frame assembly of the mechanism, which frame will be designatedA in thedrawings, and in a cross-plate i9 spaced some distance from thesaidplate 4-. The plunger [8 is provided with a shoulder or abutment 20and a spring 2! is interposed betweensaid abutment 2E and the lowerplate 4% of the assembly frame structure A, as seen in Figure 1, andnormally tends to hold the inner end of the plunger I8 in contact withthe operating edge portion of the cam ll. The outer end of the plungerI3 is adapted to be projecteda short distance through an opening in theperipheral portion of the ball l, the same being thelower wall portion,as seen in Figure l and also in Figure l. In action the plunger I3 is.capable of reciprocal movement, sliding, on the assembly frame A- andmovable to carry its outer end outwardly through the periphery of theball i and withdraw said end until it is'flush with the said periphery,as. seen in Figure 1.

On the control shaft !5 there is also. carried a detent member 22 whichis fixed to. the shaft 18 and which is of disc-like form, being providedon its periphery with a detentlug 23. Pivoted on the-frame A and carrieddirectly by one side 2 of said frame, is a detent pawl 24 one end ofwhich is provided with the project-ion for engaging the fiat wall of theprojection 23 of the detent wheel or member 22. The pivotal support ofthe pawl 24 is designated 25 and the end of the pawl 24 opposite thatcarrying the projection 25 is pivotally connected at 2's withthe controlor release rod 28 mounted for radial sliding movement on the frame A ina manner similar to the mounting of the'plunger l8, and substantiallyparallel with the latter. A helical spring encircles the release rod 28nearv its outer end portion and is interposed between the lower plate 4of the frameA, as seen. in Figure l, and

a shoulder or abutment portion 39 provided on said rod 28. Normally whenthe pawl 24 is engaged at its projection 25 with the control wheel '22,and held in such engagement by the action of the spring 29 on the rod23, the outer end of the rod 28 projects slightly from the peripheralportion of the ball I, thus being conditioned to be pressed inwardlywhen the ball rolls and the said outer end is caused to engage with thesurface on which the ball moves.

The foregoing generally describes the construction of our mechanicalball toy in respect tolthe general mechanism located therein for theoperation of said toy. It is noted that the weight of the parts 53, 253,2!, 29, ll, 22 and 2a is such that the center of gravity of the ball Iis located approximately at a point about midway of the ends of therelease rod 28. On this account, if the ball I is caused to roll on asurface it will tend to cease rolling or come to a stop in a positionsuch that the peripheralportion of the ball adjacent to the outer end ofthe release rod is lowermost, thus to require the ball always to arriveat a position when coming to about a stopping point such that the outerend of the release rod 28 will engage the surface on which the ball isrolling. Under such a condition therefore, the outer end of the releaserod 28 will be pushed inwardly as the ball is about to come to a stopand this inward pushing action of the release rod 23 will disengage thepawl from the control wheel 22 by which wheel the spring motor ismaintained inoperative. until the wheel 22 is released.

When the wheel 22 is released the spring 5, which is the motor element,causes operation of. the train of gearing comprising the parts ll, l2,l3, M and i5 and thus drives. the control shaft IS for a period of about1 revolution ofv the. control wheel 2 and until the projection 23 of thewheel isagain engaged and detained by means of the projection 25 of thepawl 2 3.

The rotation of the Wheel 22 upon release thereof, causes the shaft it.to correspondingly rotate and effect rotation of the cam H. whichoperates on the inner end of the pushing plunger 18. The rotation of thecam ll will. push the plunger I8 outwardly or radially of the body ofthe ball I so that the outer end of the plunger will engage the surfaceon which the ball is rolling, particularly at about the time when theball l is seemingly coming to rest due to the gravitation force of theweight of the lower parts of the mechanism, as seen in Figure. 1 and inFigure 2. The moment the pushing plunger I8 is pushed outwardly by thecam I! under the operation of the spring motor 5, said plunger will, byengaging the floor or table surface or other surface on which the ballis rolling, impart Sooner or ing to rest the release rod 28 will againbe actuated to release the control wheel 22' and permit the motor springand gearing operated thereby to go into action to shift the pushingplunger liiradially outward and cause a pushing operation by saidplunger to initiate further accelerated rolling ofv the ball i.

It will be seen from the foregoin that once the sprin motor 6 is Woundup and the ball I is given a slight rolling movement over a surface,such rolling movement willbe automatically continued until the spring 6unwinds. and

loses its motivating power. The initial rolling will cease to a largeextent as the ball I seeks to arrive at a stopping position and justbefore such action happens the release rod 28 will re lease the shaft itto turn and cause operation of the cam I! for projecting the outer endof the pushing plunger against the surface on which the ball is rollingand thus re-energize the rolling action of the ball automatically. Theabove operation will continue intermittently, as indicated before, untilthe spring 6 unwinds and loses its energizing action as a motor. Thenthe spring 6 may be rewound manually by use of the handle 9 and windingstem 8 and the ball will be conditioned for further continuous automaticrolling operation as above described.

If desired, there may be provided at the inner periphery of the ball Iadjacent to the outer end of the release rod 28, a weight 3| forinsuring the low center of gravity of the ball at a point adjacent tothe periphery thereof .near the projecting end of the release rod. Theweight 3| may or may not be used, depending upon the desire andrequirements of the maker of the ball toys of our invention.

Various other details of the construction of the mechanical works of thetoy ball may be modified without departing from the spirit of thepresent invention so long as the principles of operation andconstruction as hereinbefore set forth are utilized.

Havin thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a mechanical ball toy, in combination, a spherical hollow body; amotor mounted therein, a detent member in the body for stopping theoperation of the motor, a release member within the body coacting withthe detent member and having a part projecting from the outer surface ofthe body to engage a surface on which the body may roll, said engagementpushing said release member to release the detent member to initiateoperation of the motor, and a pusher member in the body operated by themo tor and having a part projectable from the outer surface of the bodyto engage said surface on which the body may roll, to impart rollingaction to the body.

2. A ball toy as claimed in claim 1, in which a frame is mounted in thebody, and the release member and pusher member are slidably mounted onsaid frame.

3. A ball top as claimed in claim 1, in which a frame is mounted in thebody, and the release member and pusher member are slidably mounted. onsaid frame, the motor bein mounted also on said frame, and the bodybeing internally provided with parts coacting to maintain the frame andsupported parts stationarily mounted in the body.

4. A toy as claimed in claim 1, in which th motor is a spring, combinedwith a train of gearing connected to the motor and drivingly connectedto the detent member and the pusher member.

5. A toy as claimed in claim 1, in which the stated mechanical parts inthe body are arranged so that the center of gravity of the body islocated at a point adjacent to the place on the body where theprojecting part of the release member is located.

6. A toy as claimed in claim 1, combined with means in the body forbringing that peripheral portion of the body, from which the release rodprojects, to a position near the surface on which the body rolls duringrolling movement of the body.

'7. A toy as claimed in claim 1, in which the motor is a spring,combined with a train of gearing connected to the motor and drivinglyconnected to the detent member and the pusher member, a winding stemconnected to the motor spring, and a winding handle for said stem at theperipheral portion of the body, said body having a recess in its outersurface in which the handle is located in a manner not to project beyondthe general outer peripheral contour of the body.

8. In a mechanical ball toy, in combination, a spherical hollow body, amotor mounted therein, a detent member in the body for stopping theoperation of the motor, a pusher member in the body operated by themotor and having a part projecting from the outer surface of the body toengage a surface on which the body may roll, to impart rolling action tothe body, and control mechan sm on the body for intermittently releasingsaid detent to intermittently initiate operation of the pusher member bythe motor.

9. A toy as claimed in claim 8, in which the motor is of the windablespring type, and means accessible from a point exterior to the body towind up the motor at will.

HUBERT E. GELB. CHAUNCEY YOUNG.

.REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,603,487 Moyer Oct. 19, 19261,642,449 Lee Sept. 13, 1927 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 450,785Germany Oct. 10, 1927

